Apparatus for actuating shuttles in a multi-shuttle loom



United States Patent inventor Mikko Kiema Turku, Finland Appl. No.779,105 Filed Nov. 26, 1968 Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 597,818,Nov. 29, 1966, now abandoned. Patented Aug. 25, 1970 Assignee Kutomo &Punomo Osakeyhtio Turku, Finland a corporation of Finland APPARATUS FORACTUATING SHUTTLES IN A MULTI-SHUTTLE LOOM 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 139/136, 1 39/ l 8 8 Int. Cl D03d 35/00 Field ofSearch139/135-138,

[56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 364,741 6/1887 Widmer139/136 1,718,832 6/1929 Pierce 139/135 2,101,981 12/1937 Burnsetal139/136 2,134,125 10/1938 Hoff 139/l36X FOREIGN PATENTS 288 i868GreatBritain Primary Examiner James Kee Chi Attorney- Albert M. ParkerABSTRACT: An apparatus for actuating shuttles in a multishuttle loom inwhich a guide plate having a U-shaped slot cooperates with a pin securedto a rack and pinion driving mechanism to give shuttles a reciprocatingmovement with respect to the batten of a loom by converting forcesacting in the direction of movement of the batten into forces in aperpendicular direction to the battens movement.

Patented Aug. 25, 1970 Aim/r0 K/EMA AITTORNE).

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APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING SI-IUTTLES IN A MULTI- SIIUTTLE LOOM Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 597,818,filed Nov. 29, 1966, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to apparatus for imparting a reciprocatingmotion, transverse to the direction of movement of the batten, toshuttles which follow guide tracks along the batten of a multishuttleloom.

In multishuttle looms for the manufacture of narrow woven fabrics, suchas ribbons, arched shuttles are movably attached to the battens. As thebattens move toward and away from the loom body in the direction of thewarp thread. the shuttles move back and forth along the batten in thedirection of the weft thread. The problem of transmitting these tworeciprocating motions, which are directed perpendicularly to each other,to the shuttles has long been a difficult problem in the art. Variouscomplicated power transmission and guiding mechanisms have heretoforebeen employed.

Usually the movement of the batten in the warp thread direction has beentransmitted by a crankshaft and connecting rods. To move the shuttlesalong the batten in the direction of the weft thread, moving elementsattached to the shuttles have been actuated by means of eccentric gears,transmission levers and transmission belts, or by means of an eccentricdrum and transmission lever. This has made the construction of the loomvery complicated and costly, since each of the mechanical movements hasto be accurately coordinated with the others. Wear on all of the movingparts is great and the power requirements of such a loom are large.

The object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for transmittingthe desired motion to the shuttles in a simple manner, without the useof complicated transmission elements and with minimum powerrequirements.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel apparatus for theactuation of shuttle movement in a loom by the use of a transmissionmechanism including a U-shaped guide which translates forces from thereciprocating motion of the batten into a reciprocating force in adirection perpendicular to the movement of the batten to drive theshuttles.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description of an embodiment of theinvention and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal section showing cam meansand rack and pinion means for actuating the shuttles of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view taken on line EE of FIG. 3 looking inthe direction of the arrows with some parts shown in vertical section;and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the portion of the apparatusshown in FIG. 1, with part of the cam means shown in vertical sectiontaken on line GG of FIG. I and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like partsthroughout, the loom body of the multi-shuttle loom is indicated at 9(FIG. 2). Spaced from the loom body 9 and extending along the front ofthe loom is the breast support 8. The batten, generally indicated at 7,lying in the space between the loom body 9 and the breast support 8, isa massive elongated channular member, having an upright web 13 and upperand lower legs 14 and 15 which extend horizontally in the forwarddirection toward breast support 8, as shown in FIG. 2.

The batten 7 is mounted for reciprocating movement transversely of itslength in a horizontal plane toward and away from the loom body 9. Themeans effecting this movement of the batten 7 is best shown in FIG. 2.

A disc wheel 12, mounted for rotation at the end of a loom body 9, hasone end of a crankshaft 11 pivotally attached to the wheel 12 at an offcenter position. The other end of the crankshaft 11 is pivotallyconnected to the batten 7 through a connecting link me rnber 17 rigidlysecured to tlfibattenl The rotation of the wheel 12 impartsreciprocating motion to the batten 7 through the crankshaft l1 andconnecting link 17. The battens reciprocating movement toward and awayfrom the loom body 9 is in the direction of the warp thread or the loomproduct.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the web 13 of the batten 7 is seen to beprovided with an elongated aperture therethrough which provides apassage through which a flat guide plate I, to be described later,extends. The aperture 16 is sufficiently large to allow thereciprocating movement of the batten 7 to take place without the battentouching the guide plate 1.

Referring now to FIG. 1 showing the transmission mechanism of theapparatus viewed from above, the guide plate 1 is seen to be rigidlyattached at one of its ends by bolts 8a directly to the breast support 8of the loom and at its other end to the loom body 9 by bracket 19. Theguide plate 1 lies in a plane normal to that of the web 13 of the batten7 and extends through the aperture 16.

A U-shaped guide slot 10 is formed in the guide plate 1 with the base10b of the U toward to the loom body 9 and its legs extending toward thebreast support 8 and terminating in rounded ends 1011 and 10c. A pin 2extends vertically through the slot 10, with its upper and lower endsextending above and below the horizontal surfaces of guide plate 1. Thecurved portions of the U-shaped slot provide cam surfaces for the pin 2,which moves around the U as the transmission mechanism operates in amanner to be described. The pin 2 has a roller 3 mounted thereon torotate about the axis of the pin 2 preferably by some anti-frictionmeans such as the ball bearings shown.

The upper and lower ends of the pin 2 are rigidly secured to laterallyextending upper and lower bars 6, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The pin 2,through the bars 6 actuates a rack and pinion mechanism mounted on thebatten 7 and about to be described.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the elements of the rack and pinion driveare shown to be positioned inwardly of the legs 14 and 15 of the batten.Slideways for slidably receiving extensions of the racks are providedalong the length of the batten 7 by spaced angle bars 4 and 5. The bars5 are secured to each leg of the batten 7 adjacent the outer end thereofand extend inwardly therefrom. The angle bars 5 are reinforced byexterior spaced bracing members 18. The angle bars 4 are mounted on theweb 13 in spaced parallel relationship with respect to the angle bars 5.The spaced opposed surfaces of the pairs of parallel bars 4 and 5provide upper and lower guide tracks along the upper and lower legs 14and 15 respectively of the batten 7.

As stated above and shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pin 2 is connected atits upper and lower ends to laterally extending upper and lower bars 6which reciprocate with respect to the inner surface of the batten web 13and follow the motion of the pin 2. The bars 6 are also secured, forexample, by vertical pins to upper and lower bars 42a forming extensionsof elongated toothed racks 42 which extend along between the slidewaysformed on the batten 7 between the guide bars or rails 4 and 5.

Referring to FIG. 3, showing the shuttle drive, it will be clear thatsince the bars 6 are suitably connected to the rack extensions 42a, thebars 6 and the racks 42 will move together along the slideways 4, 5 whenthe pin 2, secured to bars 6,

moves.

At spaced positions along the batten 7 to the right of the plate 1 asseen in FIG. 3 gears 40 are mounted in housings 43. These gears are inmesh with the teeth 44 of the racks 42 to be rotated back and forth asthose racks reciprocate. Such housings and gears are positioned withsets of gears 40 in mesh with both the upper and lower racks.

Sets of shuttles 41 are positioned in an upper row for slidable movementin the housings 43 adjacent the upper array of gears 40 and in a similarlower row. Each shuttle carries a row of teeth 45 which mesh with theteeth of the gears 40. Thus, when the gears 40 are turned by the motionof racks 42, the shuttles are slid lineally in a direction opposite tothe direction of movement of the rack 42. When the movement of the racks42 is reversed, the shuttle movement will likewise be reversed.

The mode of operation of the apparatus is much simpler than that ofknown actuating devices. As the wheel 12 rotates, causing the crankshaft11 to move in and out, a sliding reciprocating motion in the warpdirection is imparted to the batten 7. As the batten moves toward andaway from the loom body 9, the pin 2 is moved likewise, but the pinbeing constrained by the guide plate 1 is also caused to follow the pathof the U-shaped slot through which the pin extends. The guide plate 1remains stationary, being rigidly attached to the loom body 9 and to thebreast support 8.

The movement of the pin is as follows. Starting from the position 10a ofFIG. 1 where the batten 7 is at its position nearest the breast support8 and farthest from the loom body 9, as the batten 7 moves toward theloom body 9, pulled by crankshaft 11, the roller 3, carried by the pin2, is caused to move along the curved camming surfaces of the slot 10.As the batten 7 moves to its position farthest from the breast support 8and nearest to the loom body 9, the roller 3 is carried down the arm ofthe U-shaped slot 10 to the base of the U. The momentum generated duringits motion carries the roller 3 and the pin 2 past the center point 10bat the base of the U, preventing the pin 2 from returning to theposition 10a so that as the batten 7 returns to the position of FIG. 1,the roller 3 travels up the other arm of the U carrying the pin 2 toposition 100. Thus the pin has been moved transversely to the directionof motion of the batten 7 and due to the system of coordinates fixedwith respect to the batten 7, the pin 2 has moved in a straight linealong the batten 7, that is, in the direction of the weft thread. Thedistance the pin 2 has moved is clearly equal to the width of the Umeasured from point 10a to point 100. Repeating the cycle causes the pin2 to return around the U- shaped slot 10 to its original position, 10a.

Since the pin 2 is engaged at its upper and lower ends with the bars 6,these bars are moved along the batten 7 with the pin and the samedistance as the pin. The bars 6 in turn push and pull the upper andlower racks 42 with them along the guide tracks of the batten 7 as thepin 2 moves reciprocatingly back and forth along the batten between thepositions 10a and 100. The gears 40 are turned by the racks and theirrotation causes the shuttles 41 to fly back and forth along the batten 7carrying their thread through the shed in the weft direction.

The reciprocating motion of the batten 7, toward and away from the loombody 9 thus provides the desired movement in the direction of the warpthread and also, through the transmission mechanism described, actuatesthe shuttles to move in the weft thread direction.

Though the eccentric drive of the batten and the reciprocating drive ofthe shuttles has been shown at only one end of the batten, such driveswould be positioned at both ends for proper operation.

In a modification of the invention, the guide element may be formed froma bar bent into the shape of a U, in which case the pin 2 would bereplaced by a slide which would follow the curve of the U-bar just asthe pin moves around the U-slot to actuate the shuttles.

Other modifications and variations of the apparatus disclosed herein maywell suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described my invention what l claim as new and desire to obtainLetters Patent for is:

I claim:

1. Apparatus for controlling movement of shuttles in a loom, comprisinga movable batten, a plate fixed to the loom and having a U-shaped slottherein, a pin positioned in the slot, means for moving the batten so asto cause the pin to follow the contour of the U-shaped slot in the plateand to travel a corresponding path, andmeans movable by the pin forcausing the loom shuttles to be actuated.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said U-shaped slot has itslegs extending in the direction of movement of the batten.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the means movable by thepin for causing the loom shuttles to be actuated include a movablecarrier for supporting and moving a shuttle, and means actuated by thepin for causing the carrier to reciprocate and thereby move the shuttle.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein the shuttlereciprocating means includes a rod having teeth thereon and the movablecarrier is provided with gears which mesh with and are rotated by theteeth on the rod, whereby the shuttles are actuated when the rod ismoved with respect to the gears.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a roller is mountedconcentrically and rotatably on the pin, providing rolling contact withsides of the slot as the pin travels.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the means for moving thebatten comprises a drive wheel, a crankshaft pivotally attached at oneend to the wheel at a point remote from the center of the wheel andpivotally attached at its other end to the batten for converting rotarymotion of the wheel into reciprocating movement of the batten.

